Ex-teacher Joins Race To Replace Turlington

TALLAHASSEE — Neil Mooney, a former teacher and state bureaucrat, Monday announced his candidacy for Commissioner of Education by saying taxes should be raised to pay teachers higher salaries.

The 57-year-old Democrat calls himself the ''darkest dark horse'' in the race to replace Commissioner Ralph Turlington, who is stepping down after 12 years.

A resident of Tallahassee, Mooney has served since 1964 as the state art consultant to the Department of Education. He began his teaching career in Florida in 1958 as an art instructor and football coach at Melbourne High School.

Starting salaries for teachers in Florida should be between $20,000 and $25,000, Mooney said, acknowledging that taxes would have to be raised to accomplish that objective.

Some teachers in Florida are paid as low as $13,000 when they begin their careers.

He was not specific about which taxes should be increased but said he favors the ''user fee'' concept of charging more to families who have children in school. Mooney said he would explain more about that concept later in the campaign.

Mooney also expressed reluctant support for a state lottery. ''The lottery is not the best way to raise money for education, but I'm going to take dollars for education any way I can get them,'' he said.

Turlington is leading a petition drive to get a state lottery proposal on the 1986 general election ballot.

Mooney criticized the state's merit pay program, saying it places too much emphasis on standardized tests and too little on subjective evaluations by a teacher's superiors.

While Mooney said he agreed with experts on AIDS that there is no risk to healthy children by allowing victims of the disease in the classroom, he said he would recommend that children with acquired immune deficiency syndrome be educated separately.

''We do have mothers worried about their children,'' Mooney said. ''For the betterment of everybody, these children should be isolated.''

Mooney joins a crowded field in the race. Major Democratic opponents include state Sen. Betty Castor of Tampa, state Rep. Larry Hawkins of Perrine and Lee County School Board Chairwoman Rayma Page. Republican contenders include state Rep. Betty Easley of Largo and former Florida State University President Stanley Marshall.